Catastrophes, wars, terrorism, ecological disasters, deadly diseases,
poverty ....
The list of tragedies - both personal and public - is endless. Every
day and hour media, politicians, experts - and charlatans - bring us
a never ending barrage of bad things. No wonder that many people feel
depressed and weary.
This blog tries - in a modest and personal way - to contribute to a more
balanced view. After all, there is so much to appreciate and
enjoy in life ...
Sometimes, when I do not have anything more pressing to do, I choose a book from my library, which I have not opened or read for a long time. When I did exactly that today, I stumbled on a book about the United States of America, printed in 1925. The book, with the text in a minor European language, also includes a wide range of pictures of people and places.
When I looked at some of the pictures - and particarly the captions - I realized, that times have - fortunately - changed since the early twenties.
Here is a small selection of the pictures with original captions translated into English:
"Full blooded Apaches building a road in the Arizona desert"
"City negroes are much more educated than countryside negroes"
"Blacks employed by whites are waiters, drivers, train conductors etc. Among themselves many have performed advanced duties with good success"
"The offspring of a negro and an indian is called a zambo. Here a North-American zambo"
My own comment: The White House gates and fences were lower in the 20´s!
PS
I wanted to add this classical Pete Seeger song to this post. I have nice memories from the late 70´s in Washington DC, when Seeger performed this song.
This morning at about 5.50 A.M. I shot this picture of the Holland America Line´s M/S Ryndam approaching the port of Helsingborg. The 219,2 m long ship, built in 1994 at the Italian Fincantieri yard, takes 1266 passengers and has a crew of 557. Later on today, it will continue to Copenhagen.
The weather is glorious today, so the mostly Dutch passengers will most certainly enjoy their stay in the Øresund region.
The Peter Willemoes, with the Kronborg Castle in the background
The Peter Willemoes, one of three brand new frigates in the Iver Huitfeldt Class, passed Helsingør tonight at about 9 P.M. In its own way this ultra modern ship is very beautiful - at least in my opinion. The 137,6 m long frigate looked very peaceful, when it slowly steered northwards in the glorious Nordic summer evening, but should there be a need for action, it is very well equipped, indeed:
Complement:
101 men, total lodging capacity up to 165 men.
Propulsion:
4 ea MTU 8000 M70 engines at 8,200 kW each
2 ea Propellers
1 ea Bow thruster (15 tons pressure)
Range:
9,000 nautical miles at 15 knots
Armament:
2 ea 76 mm Gun Mk M/85 LvSa
1 ea 35 mm CIWS Mk M/04 LvSa
1 ea Mk. 41 VLS Multi Missile Launcher
16 ea Harpoon SSM (2x8)
3 ea Sea Sparrow SAM VLS Mk. 48 Launcher (3x6)
4 ea Stinger Lv M/93 (2x2)
7 ea 12.7 mm Heavy Machine Gun M/01 LvSa
4 ea SEAGNAT/SBROC Mk. 36 (4x6)
2 ea Torpedolauncher Mk. 32 Mod. 14 (2x2) for Anti Submarine Torpedoes
MU-90 M/04
2 ea 37 mm Salute Guns
Additional space for:
1 ea Agusta-Westland EH-101 Helicopter
A number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)
The information above is from the Danish Naval History page here. Wikipedia also has a an article about the Peter Willemoes and its sister ships.
The Peter Willemoes was christened by Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen on May 13 2011.
The Danish Navy is still testing the Peter Willemoes, but later on the new frigate will be put to action chasing pirates in the Gulf of Aden area. When in Denmark, the Peter Willemoes will be based in Korsør.
The Danish Navy´s page, with more information and pictures (in Danish) here.
This morning at about 6 A.M. this nice looking Swedish three masted schooner passed my place on its way northwards from Helsingborg/Helsingør. It was a little bit too far, in order for me - or the camera - to see its name. There was too little wind for using the sails.
This is the Swedish sailing boat Christine slowly making its way towards Helsingborg today. A nice day for sailing, although not a lot of wind.
And here is Christne a little bit later, with Helsingør in the background
The other of today´s ships is the car carrier Elbe Highway (148 m) close to Helsingør on its way to Emden. The bright red colour makes it difficult to miss!
